For a century American prosperity and voluntary association marched together, with workers and employers carving out a middle-class life through contracts, competition, and innovation. But the labor movement that once complemented free enterprise has too often become a political industry that seeks power in Washington and special favors at the expense of hardworking taxpayers and consumers.
The modern framework that allowed unions to flourish was born in the 1930s, when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act and created the NLRB to govern collective bargaining and union elections. This law reshaped labor relations and helped build industrial unions that delivered real gains for many Americans in the mid-20th century.
Union membership and influence peaked in the postwar decades, when heavy industry and manufacturing dominated our economy, but those patterns shifted as markets, technology, and consumer tastes changed. The long arc since then shows a steady decline in union density from mid-century highs to a far smaller role in today’s more dynamic economy.
That decline has accelerated in recent years, with union density hitting record lows as private-sector membership continues to shrink even while public-sector unions hold a bigger share of the remaining rolls. The net effect is fewer workers tied to traditional organized labor and more Americans choosing direct merit and mobility over one-size-fits-all deals negotiated behind closed doors.
Even powerful unions that once towered over entire industries face serious headwinds. The United Auto Workers, once the symbol of blue-collar strength, has seen steady membership erosion and now faces the hard task of organizing nonunion plants while dealing with public scrutiny and changing global competition.
Meanwhile, modern union strategists have reinvented their playbook, pivoting to high-profile campaigns in trendy service sectors and seeking to leverage media sympathy and sympathetic regulators. That shift has produced headlines and occasional wins, but it has also exposed the limits of top-down organizing in an economy where workers prize flexibility, entrepreneurship, and direct negotiation with employers.
Capitol Hill is now debating new federal measures that would rework decades of labor law and hand big advantages to union organizers, a move that should alarm anyone who believes in free association and local control. The Protecting the Right to Organize proposals reappear in new form, and conservatives must make the case that strengthening worker choice, protecting due process at the ballot box, and preserving state-level right-to-work freedoms are the best path forward for ordinary Americans.
At the end of the day, Americans want good wages, safe workplaces, and the dignity that comes from honest work — not partisan rent-seeking. Conservatives should offer a pro-worker, pro-growth alternative: reform labor rules that reward corruption, promote competition that creates jobs, and defend individual liberty against any power—public or private—that tries to claim it for themselves.
